The Stig versus the Mercedes SLS Black

Our tame racing driver gets sideways in the very maddest Merc before a road trip to AMG headquarters…

Safe in
the knowledge that’s the last I’ll see of The Stig for a while, I tumble into the
Black’s deep racing bucket and reach up for the doorhandle. Can’t reach. That’s
new. In the ordinary SLS, the handle is grabbable by my fingertips, but AMG
decreed that the driver needs to sit lower in the Black, so I now have to rest
a buttock on the sill to close the door. This is a small change, but an
indication that AMG is prepared to sacrifice elegant entry to achieve its ends
with the Black.

What are
those ends exactly? Well, as far as I can work out, to create a track monster
that also works on the road. Now, the standard SLS isn’t the GT cruiser that
many reckon it to be, but neither is it especially good at circuit work. Body
control is a little wayward, and the handling is a tad snatchy when you’re
really on it. Gearbox is slow, too.